“I don’t think so,” asserted Reuben. “There was a man here who helped me look for the place where we had camped and after a while we found it, but the ponies and saddles and traps and everything were gone.”
“A man with you?” inquired the guide, glancing keenly at Reuben as he spoke.
“Yes.”
“Who was he?”
“Rat True.”
For a moment Kit Carson was silent as he looked steadily at Reuben. “What has become of him? Where is he?” he inquired at last.
“He left last night and took his ponies and his traps and said he was going up among the hills. He said he wanted to trap alone. That’s what Jean said, too, and that was the reason why we camped down here.”
“He cannot be very far away, then?”
“I don’t know how far. He took his ponies with him, and the little beasts were tough, and they may have been able to make good time.”
“And you haven’t any idea what has become of Jean?”